This photograph captures the moment that our Kinsale and Courtmacsherry Harbour lifeboat volunteers saved 30 people from a sinking training vessel off the Cork coast

Both lifeboat crews were called out on 24 July when the crew of a 42m Dutch sailing ship found they were being driven onto rocks. Astrid had lost power just before noon, leaving her at the mercy of strong southerly winds off the Sovereign Islands near Kinsale.

In force 5–6 winds and a 2m swell, Astrid was blown onto the rocks, suffered a damaged hull and started taking on water – she was sinking quickly. But the group of young sailors aboard stayed calm and listened to their skipper’s instructions.

Within minutes, Kinsale’s Atlantic 75 lifeboat was on scene, closely followed by the Courtmacsherry Harbour all-weather Trent class lifeboat. The Kinsale Helmsman, Liam O’Connell, got close enough to the sinking ship to allow Crew Member Nick Searls to jump aboard. Realising Astrid was beyond saving, he reassured the sailors and helped 12 of them onto the inshore lifeboat with the help of Crew Member Jim Grennan. The 12 were passed onto a dive boat and then transferred on to another vessel, Sprit of Oysterhaven.

By now, Astrid’s deck was disappearing beneath the waves. Her crew had deployed a large liferaft, anticipating that they may need to abandon their vessel. So, while their crew mates were being ferried to safety, the remaining 18 got aboard the liferaft, which was then towed out to calmer seas by the Kinsale lifeboat crew. The tow rope was then passed to the harbour master's boat. Then the sailors were helped aboard the larger Courtmacsherry lifeboat, where Coxswain Sean O’Farrrell was acting as onscene commander.

The Courtmachsherry crew brought the sailors back to Kinsale Harbour, where they were assessed by medical teams.

Lifeboats from Ballycotton and Crosshaven had also headed to the scene and Coast Guard helicopters from Waterford and Shannon flew to the area – but fortunately, the Kinsale and Courtmacsherry crews had quickly managed to get everyone to safety. Coxswain Sean O’Farrell said: ‘I want to praise the quick thinking of the skipper and the crew from the Astrid. They kept calm and did everything we asked them to do.’

All 30 people were safe: a proud moment for the lifeboat volunteers. ‘Everyone was very fortunate,’ adds Sean. ‘We were able to get them to safety quickly and a major tragedy was averted. To be able to recover 30 people was a great day for everyone involved. It was a great team effort.’